Near Miss

The deer are out in full force these days! After seeing the dead deer disaster yesterday, I was not ready for a repeat performance! I guess the snow is driving the poor deer to find warmer hangouts. Tonight, Kiel was driving us home from Wegmans. We were on Lyell Avenue of all places - no open fields, just houses as far as the eye can see.

Suddenly out of nowhere, a deer flashed in front of our headlights. It was close. So close I could see the texture of the antlers and the frightened terror in its eyes. It slid across the road from the left hand side right in front of an oncoming car, then headed for us, its legs knocked out from under it.

I gasped, held my breath, and braced for the impact. How we managed to miss it I will never know. Grace of God. Kiel was yelling. He didn't even have time to react. His voice was loud in my ears. "Where did that come from? How did we miss it?"

He slowed until he regained his composure. I don't think there was a car behind us. That deer would surely have hit it if there was one. I tried to look back and see if the deer had made it across the road. Darkness revealed nothing.

Shaken but completely unhurt, we drove on home, amazed that we had escaped injury. Thank God for guardian angels. They deserve a bonus tonight!

Dead Deer in the Middle of the Road

The roads are still nice and clear, but the snow continues. I head for work, sad to see the barren fields half brown, half white, the abandoned corn stalks fluttering slightly in the breeze, as if wishing for a scarf to shelter them from the wind.

Suddenly, red tail lights glare ahead of me. Cars slow, then swerve. I creep cautiously forward, craning my neck to see what is going on. To the side of the road, a bright yellow Jeep, lights blinking, front fender dented in. In the center of the road, a dead deer sprawls across the center line, legs bent at awkward angles.

Traffic from both directions must wend their path around the fresh destruction. I am solemn as I gaze at the open eye of the lifeless carcass, hoping the poor thing was not caring for young ones. The driver in the Jeep is on his cell phone as I crawl past. A moment sooner, and it could have been me. I am thankful it was not.

By noon when I head home for lunch it will all be cleared away. Such is the way we handle death. Get it out of sight as quickly as possible. Fix the fender. Pretend it never happened. Get on with life.

Still, it is a loss. I can't help being sad. I will try to be more aware of our furred friends and not just barrel merrily along. Slow down a bit. Take time. Look out for others. Yes. Be gentler. I could stand to pay more attention.

Winter Arrives!

With a vengeance. It was snowing when I awoke, and has continued all day long - that fine sifting down sugary snow that doesn't seem to accumulate on the roads but frosts the bushes and trees and coats the green grass white.

It's not cold really. No sharp wind blowing. Even the birds are singing gaily, as if welcoming winter. We have had unseasonably warm weather for November, and people had started to wonder if winter was ever going to come. Here it is!

If sincerity counts for anything, I believe winter is here to stay. Indications are that it promises to be fairly mild for awhile. No bitter temperatures or icy power outage types of storms brewing in the near future.

My neighbor says if winter stays like this, she can live with it. Of course, she would like it to go away as soon as Christmas passes! Happy winter.